


familiar

by withshinwon



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: F/M, Pristin - Freeform, nu'est - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 12:11:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15557451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withshinwon/pseuds/withshinwon
Summary: Serenity Liu is an eighteen year old just trying to get by. She doesn't know why the universe picks at her, like a plaything, as if she needs a reminder about how bad everything is. It doesn't help that she's already poor, bad at math, and her dad just took a train to who knows where — and now, she's homeless.So when a mysterious man offers her a free house to live in, she can't say no; not when she's out of options and at her wits end, she can't. But of course, like everything else in the universe, there's a catch.She had always wondered why the gods hated her, but the last thing on her mind was becoming one. Kissing is the easy part, but can she balance her job as a shrine goddess with her love life? And will a certain familiar make it any easier for her, or just the opposite?(kamisama kiss based/inspired au)





	1. homeless

Serenity wondered why the gods hated her so much.

A bolt of lightning hung over her head, and she waited for it to strike her, to put her out of this misery, but it didn't. Maybe the gods finally pitied her, as she pathetically sat on the bench, or maybe they realized that the blizzard was going to kick the bucket for her. Either way, she didn't know if she should've been grateful or dissapointed.

Who could blame her?

When she had gotten home from school, her tired arms were prepared to dump all of her heavy textbooks onto the floor, since their weight and the walk home wasn't a great combination for her back. She had expected to swing open the door, as usual, and walk past her father and his gambling buddies, who were less than great influences for the man. However, Serenity didn't even have the chance to do that.

'Dear Liu Kiet and others, you have been evicted. Move out by approximately now, or you will be jailed. Thanks!'

She had searched for a solution, or a small, useless, bandaid in light of the situation. If the girl just worked harder than she already did, and paid off all of his debt as soon as possible, then everything could've worked out. Sadly, to only half of her surprise, the eviction notice wasn't the only terrible letter she had received. 

'Dear Serenity, my ai, we've been evicted! I've left because I have no money, and I'm not telling you where I am. Love you!'

With all of the dirty work, homework, and headaches she had endured, this exceeded all of it. Until now, she was more exhausted than she had ever been before. Ninety percent of her will had been drained out of her, and she had barely trudged through the snow without collapsing. The other ten percent kept her alive, as she mindlessly found herself slumped over on a bench.

I'll just freeze to death, she told herself. Then I won't have to wake up tommorow and look for a better job, or another low paying one. I'll meet father in heaven when the gangsters he gambled with catch up with him. . .

She sighed, and rolled over on an icicle that could've impaled her. As much as she would've liked to, she'd never stop trying to live. Even though she was worn out, she'd force herself to become brand new after took a nap. That is, if she survived in the cold that night, or the bears didn't get her. (Were there bears in China?)

"Help!" a voice exclaimed, in pure terror. "Help me, someone!"

The girl groggily snapped out her pathetic slumber, and looked around for the desperate voice in need. Her back still hurt from the textbooks that she had heaved onto her back, but she quickly sprang from her icy cold seat. Her sleeves tugged at her stiff arms, but they produced no comfort in this weather.

"Sir? Ma'am?" she called out, trying to stifle a much needed yawn. Mossy green trees were selectively planted, covered in pure white snow. A hungry squirrel pounced on a frozen pop tart, and the paved trail was a walking hazard. "Hello?"

The voice cried out again, more frantically than the first time. "Hello! I mean, yes! I need help! Please!" Serenity turned around as the voice seemed louder and clearer. "I'm here!"

In a six foot tree was a man, who wore a terrified expression. Although he seemed to be in a crisis, his appearance was unusually well put together. The stranger had a fancy pair of brown leather shoes on, and a thick magenta scarf that made him look like a fashionable scholar. If those facts were important at the moment, she would've spent a longer time ogling at him.

Especially since he was in a tree.

"Sir, what's wrong?" she hurriedly asked. Then, she facepalmed at the sound of her own stupid voice. "S-sir, d-do you need help down? O-Or a firefighter? Or. . ." She racked her brains through the blizzard that screwed up her speech, into a pathetic and helpless thing. What's like a firefighter, but not a firefighter? A cook? They burn things too. . .

The man pointed at the ground, and for a second she thought he was trying to call out her less than cool shoes. His left hand shook, and vibrated the entire tree itself. She thought he should've been more scared of himself, at that point. "I can't get down!"

Serenity wished she had a flashlight, but then again, she also wished he would just tell her what he was pointing at. "S-should I help you down?" She wasn't prepared to carry another human being, not like this. She'd collapse on the way to the hospital, and she'd bet all of the money she never had. Of course, she'd still do it anyways.

"You can't help me down!" he yelped in return. "Not until you get that away from me!"

She finally spotted that. It crawled and clawed its way through the snow, with bright, sickly green eyes. They made eye contact, and then, the feline pounced onto her. It bared its teeth, and then snuggled into her arms, as if they were actually warm.

"You're scared. . . of cats?" She stroked the feline's ginger hair, and then looked upwards to the man in the tree. To her surprise, the man was significantly calmer than before, like nothing happened.

He nodded, as he plucked a leaf out of the tree and smiled. "Indeed, I am. Genuinely. I can handle dogs, ladybugs. . . foxes," he told her. "But cats? Oh no, no, no, no. Never."

"Do you still need help getting down?" She placed the cat on its tubby paws, where they stayed in wait.

The man waved his hand, almost bashfully. She felt more confused by the minute. "Oh no, I'm alright. I'll be getting down in a minute," he said. The girl watched as he fixed his cuffs, straightened his collar, and checked his watch. For a second, he saw a mysterious glint in his eye, but not for long. Swift and like a bird itself, he gracefully flipped, jumped, and landed on the floor like it was second nature.

I'm really hallucinating tonight.

He brushed off miniscule specks of dirt off his beige trench coat, and finally addressed Serenity, who stood slightly slack jawed. She didn't even notice that the cat had ran away into the night once again, which dissapointed her. Serenity would've named the cat something cool, like Taboo. "These days, I feel like I'm three centuries old," he sighed. "I used to do that without having to strain myself."

I'm really. . .

"Oh, nice," is all she responded. The unimaginable moment replayed in her mind, like a three dimensional action movie. (If she could afford those, of course. To her relief, this scene was free.) "Super nice."

The man smiled, to the point of eye crinkling. He could've been the iridescent sun that melted the snow that night, if that was even possible. "It is, really." She stood there, like an idiot, and a look of concern glossed over his face. "Tell me, why are you out so late? Aren't your parents waiting for you at home, dear?"

Her entire body slumped, like a bowl of gray, frozen mush. "Ah, they would be. Or my mother would be, if she was still alive." Oh god. I can't believe I just said that! "I'm sorry, sir. I shouldn't have said that, it wasn't necessary. . ." The day couldn't get any worse, but it felt like it did.

He gently shook his head, and waved his hand through the uncomfortable air. "No, no. That's okay. If anything, it's more than necessary that you'd tell me something like that." She walked back to the bench she had sat on prior to his rescue, and he followed. Together, they sat, and Serenity let all of her composure go, next to a complete stranger. She wondered if it even mattered. "What about your father?"

She bit her tongue at first, but the question was sincere. "My father, he, uhm. . . Well, you see, he just abandoned our home right now, well, our old home, and he. . ." Abandoned me. He. . . The girl mindlessly kicked her legs, like she was on a swing. "Yeah." She coughed, feeling warmer for some reason. "Yeah."

"I see," he said. There was nothing for the man to muse about, but he still simmered on his thoughts. He looked at the sky, that held an emboldened moon. She wished it would've gone away, because it was too bright for her eyes. They couldn't come to a close, and that was one of the worst feelings in the universe.

Why are the gods like this, she pondered. Why is father like this. . . 

Why am I like this. . . 

Suddenly, the man stood up from his seat beside her. He finally realized how pathetic I am, and that must be energy sapping to be around. Sir, sir, I'm sorry. I hope you get some sleep. . . Sheep. . . Sheep are nice. . .

"To tell you the truth, I'm no better than your runaway father. In fact, I've abandoned my own home too, for different reasons, but I'm just as cowardly," he said, in a sincere, but straightforward tone. It was as if this fact was simply accepted, and he wasn't worried. "I'm a little of scared of what's going to happen to me if I return." 

Even in such a weakened state, she found sympathy for everyone. "Oh no, sir. . . That's. . ." Not good? Very bad? Like my gambling father?

He chuckled. "Don't feel so bad for me. Judge me if you'd like, I don't mind." She didn't know what, but his voice hung onto something bittersweet. She wondered what it was. "But the difference between him and I, is that I've found a home for you."

In the midst of utter confusion, her teeth chattered. "W-what do you mean? Sir?"

"I may have abandoned my home, but unfortunately, I can't leave it empty. You see, my dear, someone must stay in it, tend to it, or I will be in very big trouble," he explained, but guilt was nowhere to been seen on his face. In a serene smile, he looked at her, while his scarf dangled downwards. "Which is why, I'm giving it to you."

"S-sir, I can't-"

"But, why of course you can! You saved my life. Consider it my thank you gift," he said. It wasn't an arguement, it was a statement.

Serenity was lost for words, her mind had been wiped clean of all common sense. "I. . ."

The man tsked at his watch, and then casually pocketed his hands. "Oh goodness, Minghao will tear me apart. . . All of that waiting, for nothing," he said to himself. He chuckled at his own words. "He's so hot headed."

Minghao? His husband?

His wife?

Shoo, thoughts, shoo! She brought herself back to the matter at hand, as she profusely shook her head. As she did so, her neck felt like it had rusted. "S-sir, wait-"

He shushed her, and she could've sworn, there was this layer of golden sunshine that shrouded him, even in all of this darkness and bitter cold. It made him glow. "I must go," he announced. Then, he unwrapped his scarf from around his neck and gently wrapped it around her own. It felt soft, and warm, and everything that night wasn't. "You will go too, and you won't refuse because I'm out of time, okay?"

She found herself nodding against her will, lulled by his words. The man offered her a small smile, and then lingered in front of her for a moment. Then, he decidedly leaned down and pushed back her choppy bangs, only to kiss her forehead. It tingled a little, and left her in disbelief as she rubbed the very spot. Before she could question him, he had already turned on his heel.

"Serenity, my dearest," he told her as he looked ahead. "Please give everyone my condolences, and treat them well."

Serenity blinked, and then, he was gone.


	2. welcome?

She had been scammed.

There was no other explanation for it, as she wearily looked ahead. Combined with the fact that Serenity was a lightheaded dunce, desperate for a home, fooling her was less than a cakewalk. (Instead, it was a slip and slide.) Why else would such a random, handsome, yet sketchy man gift her with a free house, in the middle of nowhere?

The gods. Her hand clenched in defeat, ready to uselessly curse at the midnight sky. They're having a ball with me, even though I've already lost.

"What is this hand writing anyways. . ." she muttered to herself, as her eyes tried to decipher the mystery man's map. It looked like a child's drawing, with badly drawn trees, arrows, and x marks the spot on the so called 'house'. (Not to mention, his script was practically chicken scratch.) It had the word swindled written all over it.

The girl sighed at herself for being so foolish, believing that all of her problems would've been cast away by a mere sweet talker. If Serenity Liu had known better, she could've saved herself from such a tiresome walk, but nooo! Instead, the man's honeyed words had lured her all the way to an old, abandoned shrine.

When she had arrived, a cold gust of wind seemed like a gloomy shroud of darkness. The shrine was desolate, not even a part of its lively surroundings. Serenity immediately wanted to turn back, so she could die somewhere else - preferably, in a sunshiney bed of daisies.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a swarm of decayed leaves blitzed and circled around her. The fragile things ambushed her, with such strength, that it was impossible to fall onto the ground. (The girl never thought that she'd ever wish for the sweet relief of falling flat on her face.) It felt like a game of reverse tug o' war, with Serenity in the middle, which made her extremely nauseous.

It reminded her of a smoothie in a blender.

Why me, why me—

Like a miracle, the brazen wind slowed to a stop, with only a mysterious wisp of wind to show for it. Although the calm returned to the night, her entire body quivered at the experience. One, two. One, two. Hands on her knees, she deeply heaved in some air for her lungs.

"I'm a toy. . . at this point," Serenity wheezed, while the ends of his scarf dangled on the floor. She breathlessly threw it around her neck, and tried to regain her sense of self. "I'm a. . ." 

Lord Seokmin.

Serenity craned her neck from behind her shoulder in search of the voice, but the girl found herself alone, and very Seokmin-less. Of course, that wasn't a surprise, since she had been alone the entire time. The only things that had accompanied her along the journey was grayish snow, a tote bag, and her own two feet.

It was probably a hallucination, or the wind. (But then again, the wind wasn't that nice to her just then, was it?)

Come home.

Out of nowhere, her body was propelled by the wind once again, more scathingly than the first time. Serenity's eyes widened when she started levitating, her toes centimeters from the ground of safety. And then, instead of a simple nudge, a forceful heat shoved her through the shrine gate.

With little grace, her knees crash landed onto the ground, and her hands embedded themselves into the dirt, which could've been mistaken for infinite mounds of black charcoal.

Fire, she said. This is fire.

An invisible lighter ignited before her, then tossed itself into the woods.

Why me, why me—

Blue flames licked every part of the earth as it desperately gasped for air. They engulfed everything within their path, except for the ruined shrine. The structure was surrounded by an invisible shield, a simple halo. It repelled any harm that came its way, which seemed to be a good thing. Unfortunately, she had neither - contrary to belief, she was crowned with bad luck, not a halo. 

But was the fire necessary?

Seconds away from her demise, a mental switch turned on. At the same time, the flames were headed for her, ready to close the ring of fire. She closed her eyes, and thought, okay, this is it.

One. Two. Thr—

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Serenity slammed her eyes shut and braced herself, as she rushed the gap in between the flames. When she felt less scorched than usual, her eyes popped open once again. The girl was pleasantly surprised to see she was alive, but her enthusiasm was short lived as flames rounded on her once again.

She hurriedly ran to the outcast building, that smelled of rotting wood and loneliness. A golden glow fell through the cracks of a door, that she hadn't even noticed until then. Without a moment of hesitation, she burst through the front door.

Pop!

Fistfuls of confetti and streamers abruptly exploded in front of Serenity's startled face, which caused her tiny feet to stumble backwards. With no time to breathe, there was a loud trumpet noise, that sounded the paper tubes she blew into when she was a kid. (Was it a cazoo?)

"Lord Seokmin, we've missed you!"

"We're saved, we're saved!"

Maybe this is what winning a video game feels like, minus the blood lust wildfire, and the two, midget mask wearing people in front of me, she rapidly thought to herself.

Midget.

Mask.

People?

The girl blinked once, twice, and then three times. The two were still there, jumping around the ancient looking room in utter excitement. Considering her close to near death experience a few moments ago, their reactions confused her. She wasn't their beloved Lord Seokmin, nor a land god. She was just a teenage girl, and the acne dotted across her cheeks showed for it.

Nevertheless, the two tearfully hugged each other as if they had won an award. Then, they grasped each other's hands and spun around in a circle. All she heard was yay! yay! yay! as she thought, no! no! no!

"Bo, Lord Seokmin is back!" the purple eyed one cheered. His mask magically moved with him, as each brushstroke joyfully quirked upwards.

"I know, Sai!" The same went for the other, but his mask was cracked. Green was his color of choice for the painted eyes, as he squinted in tearful disbelief. "He is, he is!"

An arrow of guilt ripped through her body, straight for the heart. Their happiness was genuine, and even though these people were strangers to her, she had to be the one to ruin their parade. Which totally sucked. A lot.

"I'm sorry, but," she started. "I'm not Seokmin, whoever. . . that is. No disrespect to him, of course, he sounds nice." Serenity nervously smiled and rubbed the back of her head, with an awkwardly forced laugh, which physically pained her to do. "I was only told to come here, but it must've been a mistake."

The one that she thought was Bo piped up. "You have to be Lord Seokmin! I sensed your energy, it was unmistakable." He giggled and waved his robed hand, as if to say nonsense.

She really couldn't argue with that, partly because whatever he had just said made no sense to her. "My name is Serenity Liu," she insisted. "I honestly don't know who this Lord Seokmin is, and I'm no one special." Her withered tote bag felt heavier, and that's when she remembered something.

"Look, here-" Serenity retrieved two plastic cards, tiny and small for pocketing, and kindly passed them to the confused, yet interested duo. They peered carefully at her school id, which wasn't stunning to look at, and her hospital card, which had her date of birth and everything.

"Sai, Lord Seokmin could've-"

"What? He wouldn't have-"

"But I know that it's him! The mark is right there!"

"Lord Seokmin wouldn't returned home screaming!"

Serenity worriedly stepped in the middle of the two, like kindergarten cop. "Woah, woah, woah! Let's just. . . settle down," she said. "And what mark? What do you mean by that?" Are they talking about my zit? 

The gods have zits?

"Bo, this isn't Lord Seokmin," Sai realized. Tarred school uniform. Burnt rubber soles. Torched brown hair. They seemed almost fascinated her appearance, even amazed. Serenity almost felt embarrassed. "She doesn't know about her mark."

Perplexed green eyes flitted between Sai and Serenity. "But it has to be! I was sure. . ." Bo argued, but the truth had started to dawn on him. Bo gulped and locked eyes with Sai, who returned the same worried look of fear. "Unless. . ."

"When Minghao finds out. . ." Sai said, in an anxious tone of voice. Peculiar droplets of sweat formed on his mask in worry, which Serenity wanted to question, but she never had the chance.

Whoosh!

One by one, each candle that had been lit vaporized into thin air, while a sheath of pitch black darkness took over. Bo and Sai cried out, more worried than terrified, only to be silenced by a simple, yet unusually calm blue flame.

It turned into a violent, yet beautiful shade of violet.

Would she rather be surrounded by a raging wildfire, or would she rather witness that single flame again? What she did know, however, was simple. One, death was totally an option. Two, she had been scammed by a complete stranger and she fell for it. Three, she was out of her mind.

Like, right now.

"So it's you, Lord Seokmin." An antagonizing aura traveled among the shadows, as the voice echoed throughout the room. Lightly bronzed fingertips gently curled themselves around the crackling, glowing heat. The restless flames were tamed like a wild beast, lying in wait at the conjuror's will.

She tried to say I'm not him, but choked on her own words and sputtered instead. "Hngh. . . I-I. . .? I. . .?"

"Twenty years. . . twenty years, you've been gone, while I've held down the fort," the voice said. Two decades worth of bitterness and resentment began to release itself in the form of multiple bright, violet flames, that passionately danced along with his anger. From behind, she watched a tall silhouette emerge from the demonic fire.

He's so hotheaded.

Even though the man's face wasn't visible to her, his silk robe had slipped off his shoulder enough to show his pale, tan skin, and silvery hair along his nape. As beautiful as it was, Serenity hoped he'd never turn around, for obvious reasons, such as: being a death threat to her, brandishing long, sharp, ivory colored talons that looked like they could slice through her flesh like butter. . . the like.

Minghao will tear me apart.

Despite the fact that she was probably going to be fatally punished for something she didn't do, her shaking hands instinctively pushed Bo and Sai behind her, who gripped the ends of her pleated skirt in worry and fear.

Shing!

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

In an instant, the furious man launched himself at the defenseless girl like a flaming bullet. One of his clawed hands forcefully gripped the front of her shirt and lifted her an inch off the ground, where she saw his fanged scowl. Then, the lethal set of blades began to close in on her as she forcefully braced herself, ready to meet Michael Jackson at least—

Poke.

"This isn't Lord Seokmin," he realized, with a slightly surprised expression on his face. A single talon had poked her cheek, which pierced her skin. However, this didn't seem to be important to the person that nearly killed her in his clutches.

Serenity noticed how embarrassingly close their faces were to each other's, but the silver haired man didn't seem to care. In the palm of his hand, he carefully inspected everything about her, from the birthmark on the corner of her jaw, to her round, widened eyes. Flecks of golden brown peered into her eyes, in search of a man who wasn't there. Against her will, her frozen face was lightly dusted in pale rose.

Bo and Sai interrupted their tender silence. "We know!" they gleefully exclaimed, which caused the man to drop her onto the hardwood floor with a loud thump. Just like that, any feelings that she could've ever imagined in her dreams dissipated.

The back of the girl's head ghostly ached as she winced, which is when saw the tall man's ears. Maybe she had just gotten a concussion, but they looked awfully similar to a cat's ears. Small, triangular, and fur—

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU KNOW?" 

Minghao restrained himself from choking the living daylights out of two, who had fallen onto the floor due to the force of his sharp bellow. "You told me he was here!"

Bo lifted his head from off the ground and whined, "I thought he was! I sensed his energy and everything!"

"Does this-" Minghao fiercely pointed at Serenity, a confused heap of flesh on the floor. "-look like Seokmin to you?"

Sai consolingly patted the top of Bo's head, who wailed like a baby in the background. "Minghao, sir, Bo didn't make a mistake." He looked almost sympathetic towards the taller, who remained stubborn.

"Her? A mere human girl? The land god?" he scoffed, as if the idea was absolutely absurd (which it was), but she noticed one of his ears twitch. "I rather burn myself alive by my own hands than to believe something like that."

The small purple eyed boy shook his head and proceeded to waddle in her direction. Completely invading her personal bubble, Sai closely leaned into her face, with that cute, but creepy mask of his, and directly pointed at the middle of her forehead with one of his tiny, stubby fingers. Bo and Sai crowded around her like she was an exhibit. "Right here," he told everyone, in a simple voice. "Seokmin marked her."

Minghao stood behind them, but in a distance - curiosity had gotten the best of him. The girl watched as his thin eyes widened in subtle disbelief, shadowed by betrayal. Sympathy grew in the strangest places for Serenity, but it dissipated at the sight of his ticked jaw.

"Whatever," he bitterly spat in low voice. The man's robe sharply whipped behind him as he tepidly left the room.

SLAM!

Serenity's limbs jumped at the deafening sound, and the walls shook at Minghao's heated departure. Sai apologetically sighed, but smiled regardless. "Please do forgive him, he was just shocked to see that Lord Seokmin has gifted you with the land god's mark," he told her. "All of that waiting, for nothing."

All of that waiting. . .

. . . for nothing.

A ripple of deja vu floated in the back of her mind, while Serenity tried to put together the pieces of the puzzle, even though she had no idea what the puzzle was supposed to be. Drawing a blank, she asked, "What's this mark you guys are talking so much about?"

"The land god's mark," Sai told her, while she scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, still not getting it. God, why was she so—

"Here, here!" Bo had ran out of the room in a hurry and came back excited. In his doll sized hands was a small, oval mirror, that looked metallic and dusty. Surrounded by expectant states, she opened it, feeling stupidly nervous.

Everything seemed normal at first - nothing in particular had popped out to the teenage girl. Serenity still had the same tiny nose, insanely round brown eyes, and gently arched eyebrows. What am I supposed to be seeing. . . and then, wait, what's that? 

Something glowed beneath her bangs.

Out of curiosity, her fingertips slowly pushed them to the side like a pair of curtains. That was when she saw it— a pinky sized ring of light was revealed, right where Sai had pointed. The miniature sunbeam widened her eyes and caught her breath in a bind.

She didn't have a chance to comprehend the discovery, when Bo and Sai gracefully bowed before her in perfect coordination. Their respect and honor was reserved for a queen, which she definitely wasn't.

"Welcome home, Lady Serenity."

And like any normal person, she fainted.


	3. first day

Ignorance was bliss, disguised as the godly nap she took. Now that she was awake, everything was just a dream, as she hoped. Her father didn't run from his troubles, and he actually stayed in order to help his daughter, while they realized that the debt was actually just a big ol typo. They weren't kicked out of their house, she wasn't kissed on the forehead by a mysterious stranger, nor was she almost killed by a demon cat person. On top of it all, Serenity Liu wasn't a god — just a regular, human girl.

It was funny, they even called her—

"Lady Serenity!"

Her heart leapt out of its chest with a bang, as she sprang upwards from a heap of loose, white bedsheets. It only occurred to her then, that she was in a grand, queen sized bed — something that she never had, and never planned on having. The same train of thought went for the amazingly spacious, but bare bones room she was in.

"Tiny masked people," she replied. The two of them, who she had vaguely written off as figments of her imagination, stood in front of her. "Good-" She looked around the room, and was hit with a sudden beam of daybreak. "-morning. Uh, how do you do?" Cough. "I mean, why am I here?"

"Because you're the new land god." Simple, accepted, and flat out.

Serenity groggily sat up and leaned back into the headboard, feeling like the epitome of the word ugh. She was too fatigued to be skeptical and went along with it. "Okay. . . let's say I get that, but why am I the land god?" Serenity asked.

He made way to the top of her mattress, but struggled to climb upwards. She leaned herself downwards, enough to extend her tired arms to Sai. Then, Lion King style, she carried him, up and over. "Thank you, Lady Serenity," he told her. "In answer to your question, you're the land god because our Lord Seokmin has passed on his deity mark onto you."

"Why did he do that? And why me?" the girl asked, not skipping a beat.

The latter could've shrugged, but instead he said, "I don't know, my Lady. Lord Seokmin treated all of us like family, and he loved this shrine. It never occurred to any of us that he'd leave." There was a slightly dismal look on his face, but he fought through it with a kind smile towards Serenity. "As for you, I don't know either. Perhaps, our Lord saw something special within you."

She reflected on the night before, in which a zombie version of herself trudged through the snow with all of the energy she had left. Truthfully, Serenity had been at her wits end until the appearance of a certain stranger, who emitted a halo of warmth around him. What had he seen, that she didn't?

"So. . . the man who kissed my forehead. . . that was the old land god?" The thought of it sounded awesome, because, a god did that, but on the other hand, that fact that it all made sense was uncomfortable. For a mere stranger, the seemingly normal man had such a powerful presence in the dark. (Plus, with a gently carved jaw like that, being a god was the only answer.)

Sai nodded in reverence. "It was an act of passing on his deity mark to you, making you the new land god," he explained.

The same question of why popped into her mind, but she left it alone this time. "That cat guy wasn't too happy about that," she remembered. Her arrival into the shrine was less than welcoming, considering that she was almost killed by one of his very sharp talons.

"Minghao is a fox yaoguai," Sai corrected, neither confirming or denying her claim. "Bo and I are the shrine's spirits, not tiny masked people." She winced and made a notion to apologize, but it was waved off. "These are easy mistakes to make as a human. No worries, Lady Serenity. Besides Minghao, we're honored to serve you."

For her, hearing the word human, as if there was anything else, was weird, but she felt less tense than before. Although the idea of gods, spirits, and yaoguai was difficult to swallow, she felt a river of gratitude wash over her. "Thank you, Sai." Then, she added, "Uh, I should thank Bo too. Where is he?" The green eyed spirit was there when Serenity had first awoken, but dissapeared without her noticing.

"I'm here!" and then, bam!

A hard knock against the wooden footboard was followed by a chorus of porcelain clattering and clashing. Bo had rammed into the bed, with a metal cart, and now he spun in circles. "Lady Serenity, I. . . cooked. . . food. . ." Then, he tried to bow, but ended up face planting instead.

Serenity yelped, but Sai reacted with such nonchalance that it worried her. He simply took a pillow with him as he hopped off the bed, and gently put it under Bo's head. "I told Bo to make your food, and he gladly obliged." He dutifully pushed the cart over to Serenity, who marveled at the sight of food, despite the circumstances.

Steam floated over the pot of fish porridge, which reminded Serenity of her mother. She carefully removed the metal lid and stirred the contents. Finally, she took a spoon and tasted it. "I heard your stomache grumbling last night!" Bo excitedly told her as he got up from the floor. She shot Sai a what the heck you were watching me sleep look. "It's to your liking, right?"

Truth be told, the homemade porridge had soured her mouth the minute she tasted it. It was far from bland, but it seemed like Bo had dumped an entire bag of salt into the pot. Her tongue shriveled up and died twice, but Serenity quickly gave Bo a thumbs up in approval, while she struggled to digest the tiny spoonful of porridge.

"Uh, it's-" Cough. "-totally awesome!" she weakly exclaimed. "Thank you, Bo. You did well."

Bo proudly beamed, while Sai offered her a sympathetic glance, probably because he was aware of Bo's cooking skills. "You can't fulfill the duties of a land god on an empty stomach!" It's true, but it doesn't mean he should say it. Then, he tugged on one of her cotton blue pajama sleeves (which she only noticed then) and said, "You must get right to it!"

If it was possible to yawn in confusion, that's exactly what Serenity did. "H-huh? Right to what?"

"You must fulfill the duties of a land-"

The girl placed a tired hand over his overly excited face, which was absolutely no use, because he continued to bounce up and down on his feet— it was like trying to calm a puppy down. "I heard you the first time, Bo," Serenity said. She wasn't annoyed in the slightest, and figured that her stay at the shrine had to be earned. It was least she could do.

The purple eyed spirit came around with a tiny scroll, which piqued her curiosity. It seemed to be an ancient version of a to-do list, and if that was it, it would've been easy as pie. However, there were a couple of problems in this scenario— one, she didn't know how to make pie, and two, when unrolled, the list was a mile and a half long. It circled the room three times before it halted at her bare feet, and left her slightly mummified.

Serenity Liu dramatically whipped out the magenta scarf that was given to her and firmly tied it around her head as if she was preparing for war. A weak grin weaved its way through her worried mind. "L-let's get right to it, then!"

Purge the shrine of all dirt to keep evil spirits at bay.

Although the word purge felt extreme to her, it was necessary. Apparently, Serenity's style of cleaning was too weak to keep evil spirits at bay, if that was even possible to say. She laughed at first, but Bo and Sai were serious— dead serious. (God, she hated herself for that one.) From that point she waxed on and off like never before. With all of that elbow grease, she was practically the Tin Man.

"You're doing great, Lady Serenity!" Bo and Sai cheered with pom poms and chanted, "Go, go, go!"

The list of tasks were oddly specific: cleanse the yard. . . rake the fallen leaves. . . defend the vegatable garden from fearsome bugs. . . the hall of worship must be wiped with a dampened cloth. . . handwash the laundry with a washboard. . . trim the flower bushes into a perfect heart. . . polish the wishing fountain until it shines. . .

Serenity never knew that such basic things could've been done with such vigor, but the girl was learning new things everyday, she supposed. Apparently, she was also a god, so that could've had something to do with it, but Serenity barely felt like one.

I'm probably being taken advantage of, she thought. 

"These are the jobs of a land god?!" She shot Bo and Sai an aghast look, and they stopped cheering as she slowly advanced on them. Her eyes were crowned with dark circles, similar to a raccoon's. "Really?"

The spirits innocently nodded, and the girl's withered face hopelessly fell into her open palm. A thunderstorm of dread followed soon after. "If that's the case, I rather sleep outside in that blizzard again."

Bo and Sai gasped in such shock that she would've thought the world was ending. Bo leapt into her lap and wrapped his arms around her aproned waist. "Lady Serenity! You can't leave!" he whined. She looked at Sai for help, but he seemed to agree.

"Without Minghao, you're all we have left to keep the shrine alive, Lady Serenity," Sai told her. His tone of voice was similar to one she used to guilt trip people, only it didn't seem like he was trying to guilt trip her. It was actually the genuine truth, which made it so much harder to be a jerk. (Not that she was good at that either.)

She bit her lip and averted her eyes to the ceiling, only to garner two sets of puppy dog eyes. They steadily leaned into her face, and it was impossible to avoid. With a defeated sigh, Serenity finally conceded to their wishes. "What's next on the agenda?"

Pull weeds.

It was only two written words, yet they were the hardest to follow. Her skin wallowed in the relentless sun, dripping in beads of sweat. Heat vapor waves shimmered in front of her as she tiredly, but carefully, pulled stubborn weeds out of the soiled Earth. The gloves that were supposed to protect her were useless, as thorns annoying poked and scratched her every five seconds. To top it off, her back ached worse than the actors in medication commercials.

"Ow!" A spiky thorn pricked her finger just then, and she winced at the subtle pain.

Whoosh!

Out of nowhere, a familiar silver haired fox had materialized in a cloak of majestic fog. He was clothed in a hanfu, something that she only saw in cheesy, low budget historical dramas on paperview. His white sleeves and long red skirt gracefully flowed in the wind, as he loftily flicked a wooden fan open, like a peacock and it's ruffled feathers— behind it was a cruelly amused expression that she decided to ignore.

"Oh my," he said, half heartedly feigning surprise. "My, my, my. . ."

The girl clenched her jaw and continued the tortuous task at a quicker pace than usual, which resulted in a thorn stabbing her finger again. Curses and tears immediately sprang to action, but oh no, not in front of that jerk. She weakly plastered a confident smile onto her face, but her eyebrows twitched in mild irritation. Come on, Serenity. . .

"Oh, it's just you," she offhandedly noted. "I thought you left already."

Minghao lightly fanned himself, even though he looked perfectly fine in the heat— this was probably nothing compared to his own fire, and he knew it. "I decided to check in on the so-called Lady of the Land," he casually told her, with a soft trace of disdain. Then, he looked at her hands and smirked. "You can't even properly pull weeds, I see."

The bitter seed that had been planted inside of her body grew into what she thought was a strong woman. Serenity thought about how she lived life through trial and error— overtime afterschool, scraping by with two pennies, single parent, no parent. . . Ignore, ignore, ignore, she thought. This is fine—

"Amazing," Minghao said. "You truly are just an useless human girl."

Indignation brewed inside of the girl and threatened to burst open, like an exploding hot pot. However, to Minghao's dismay, her frustration only dribbled down the sides as she restrained herself. Then, she whipped around and directly looked him in the eye. Minghao faintly doubled back in surprise, but kept his composure.

"You've been awfully rude to me, ever since I've met you!" the girl countered. "Forgive me if I don't really appreciate it!"

Although it was barely a comeback, his face faltered into something less sophisticated. "Ha! You couldn't pay me to serve you, not like those idiots," he snapped.

Before Serenity knew it, she was firing back. "I didn't ask to be served!" she argued. "And you know what? You couldn't pay me to take care of this shrine, because it's practically forgotten! I bet no one even comes here!"

"You're right."

Something sad and serene passed through his vision that she couldn't recognize. He paused for a second, as an inkling of regret formed along the lines of their heated exchange. She caught her breath and calmly guided it to where it was supposed to be. "I-I'm—"

"So why don't you go on home?" His tone of voice was like a fresh breath of air, slightly honeyed, and if she didn't know better, kind. However, she couldn't mistake salt for sugar, not even when she wanted to. It was his way of shooing her away, like a fruit fly. "Won't you finally admit defeat?"

Won't you finally admit defeat?

She had thought about it before, for a while— today, yesterday, since forever— the whole giving up thing. Truthfully, the strings that held her together were on the verge of collapsing, every minute of the day. Maybe that's why she pulled them back so tightly.

Serenity was determined to smile.

"I don't have a home to return to, so I guess you're out of luck," she said with a shrug. Dandelions swayed in the afternoon breeze, like her heart— slowly and barely there. The girl refrained from yanking them out of the ground and watched them instead, then crouched down on her knees. "I don't have any family to move in with, and my father used all of the money we've ever had. He even found it in the fridge. How the heck. . ."

Silence hung between the two, while the breeze brushed past them. Strands of hair lightly floated in midair, and he glanced at her. Humans, he remembered. They're fragile.

Pluck.

"Unlike other people, I kinda don't have the luxury of living forever, which sucks," the girl lamely joked. Then, a bittersweet feeling rested inbetween her tired arms. "So I can't give up now, as much as I'd really like to."

Serenity laughed and moved to turn around. "When you're not talking, you're actually. . ."

Gone.

Minghao had left, but she wasn't surprised. "Of course. . . of course. . ." she muttered to herself, as invisible thunderbolts soared around her. "He calls himself a fox, but he's just a goddamn ra—"

"Lady Serenity!"

Bo and Sai waved as they caught up to her, in their tiny worn out slippers. On her crouched knees, she wearily waved back to them with a small smile. "Yeah?"

"Good news!" Bo told her. She stood up and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. I might be getting more pimples, she thought. I just know it. . . at least there's good news.

"I'm. . . done?" she asked.

Serenity's shoulders slumped when Sai shook his head. It was worth a try. "No, you have to go inside for your next job!" Bo told her, practically shouting into her ear.

"Got it, got it. . ."

From there, they dragged her into the shrine like a dummy, as she forced one foot in front of another. I wonder what it is this time, she thought. Carving wood with her bare hands? Scrubbing the bathtub with a toothbrush? Whatever it was, she had little energy to do it.

"Jeez, I'm beat," Serenity sighed. She had flopped onto the cool floor like a bear ready for hibernation. As much as the girl hated to admit it, the feeling of her cheek pressed against the floor felt so good. (Thank god she cleaned it to death before hand.)

Bo and Sai so graciously fanned her, not because she asked, but because it looked like she desperately needed it. (And she did.) Her eyes almost fluttered to a close, but then she was awoken by an unfamiliar voice.

Dear Land God. . .

"Did you guys hear that?" As she carefully stood up again, her eyes curiously drifted in search of the voice. Here we go, I'm hearing voices again, she thought. Great.

Bo jumped up and down, hyper as a stray dog. "Yeah! She's outside!" He pointed to the cross barred window, enough to see the outer world without throwing away all of their privacy. She walked towards it, only to find that the spirit was right— an elderly woman was on her knees, in prayer. Her eyes were softly shut, while she hopefully smiled.

Please give my daughter a safe trip back home. Serenity heard the sincerity in her voice as she prayed, and her heart swelled. She won't talk to me, so praying is all I can do. 

Please, Land God.

A teenage boy in hiking clothes replaced the elderly woman. He looked like he had no idea what to do, but he was going to do it anyways. She watched him forcefully shut his eyes and clap his hands together.

Dear Land God, his voice desperately echoed. I'm trying to confess to the girl I like tommorow. . . She doesn't have to like me back, but please give me the strength to say it confidently, you know. . . without being an idiot.

Finally, he opened his eyes, and shut them again. Also, can I get an A on the next English test? It's really hard. . .

Serenity watched people go by, dwindling one by one. It wasn't a crowd, but it was a fistful of people with genuine hopes and dreams. "I can hear them?" she asked the spirits, in awe.

"As the Land God, yes you can," Sai replied. "It's your job to listen to them, and eventually, you'll learn how to help them too, but first. . ."

There always a 'but.'

Bo ran out of the room and came back with a stack of notebooks that looked like the Leaning Tower of Piza. They were haphazardly dumped onto the ground, right at her feet. "These are all of the prayers you need read through today!"

Serenity's eyes widened at the sight. She hadn't even started yet, but it already overwhelmed her. Proceeding with caution, she asked, "How many of these are there?"

"Hm. . . I've lost count," Sai told her. "But twenty years worth."

"Twenty?!"

Sai nodded. "While Lord Seokmin was gone, Minghao wrote down all of them," he explained. "Of course, the number has dwindled down since then, because nobody's prayers have been answered, but Minghao wrote them down in case Lord Seokmin ever came back."

She sat down, criss crossed, and pulled out one of the various notebooks in the stack. When she flipped open to the first page, a neat, tidy scrawl appeared. It kept reappearing as she continued to go through the notebook. Each prayer was carefully written down in fine detail, and she imagined Minghao doing so.

I bet no one even comes here!

Serenity was wrong, and knowing that filled her up with remorse. Of course, she hadn't forgotten the insults he gave her, or how he tried to kill her, but maybe. . . maybe they could settle their differences, if they just tried.

"You guys," she said. "Can you take me to Minghao?"

**Author's Note:**

> hi there! this is ji-ang su, i decided to start an AO3 account (because wp is lightweight dead) but hit me up there too, @ bldmoons!
> 
> anyways! pls tell me what u think and i hope you enjoy!
> 
> word count: 2k+


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